We will be exploring one of the major figures of the last 1,000 years of history on the British Isles (and beyond?), King John. What impression does the Horrible History video clip below give you of this king - was he a wise, popular ruler, revered by his subjects?

CLICK READ MORE TO ACCESS RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH/FURTHER READING

...SAMPLE RESEARCH RESOURCES (with hyperlink and a sample of the writing style)

Use the worksheet below to make notes as you begin investigating this historic figure. Pick a source (you can also find your own) with the right level of challenge for you - I have provided a sample of the writing from each one.

HISTORY MAGAZINE: ADVANCED ANALYSIS
Very challenging, and very long, but presents a balanced view in clearly headed sections. (This is a pdf link, it will either open in the browser or in Adobe Acrobat, so you can click yes if asked to allow a programme to launch)

The most serious question of government that John faced in Ireland
was "a question of how to exercise some degree of control over
feudatories protected by customary law, a problem which every ruler in Europe had to face at one time or another." He needed to create a bureaucracy--much as he had in England--to exercise control even when he traveled outside the region. The office of justiciar, created by Henry II, was the first step towards this power. The justiciar served as the king in a region when the monarch himself was absent, on campaign or in another part of his empire. The justiciar had a council of the main landholders who advised him; from this council would grow the notion of a parliament. The justiciar also had many clerks who performed all the routine tasks of running a colony. John established an exchequer in Dublin to look after all of his financial interests in Ireland. The exchequer was located in Dublin Castle, which also began to print Irish coins with the image of a harp during John's reign.

Quite a castle builder...

THE WIKI
Useful, not necessarily an easy read, and should never be your only source. Sample quote:

Contemporary chroniclers were mostly critical of John's performance as king, and his reign has since been the subject of significant debate and periodic revision by historians from the 16th century onwards. Historian Jim Bradbury has summarised the contemporary historical opinion of John's positive qualities, observing that John is today usually considered a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general". Nonetheless, modern historians agree that he also had many faults as king, including what historian Ralph Turner describes as "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", such as pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty.These negative qualities provided extensive material for fiction writers in the Victorian era, and John remains a recurring character within Western popular culture, primarily as a villain in films and stories depicting the Robin Hoodlegends.